Detroit Red Wings forward Jan Mursak has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The injury-prone winger became the odd man out on a roster crowded with forwards, especially now that the team is getting healthy. The play of AHL call-ups Tomas Tatar and Joakim Andersson dropped Mursak further down the depth chart, and the speedy Slovenian will try to draw the attention of other NHL teams during the remainder of the AHL season.

Mursak was drafted by the Red Wings in the sixth round of the 2006 draft and spent three full seasons with the Griffins. A 2009-10 campaign that saw him score 24 goals while reaching 42 points moved him up in the organization’s pool of prospects, and earned him a brief call-up the following season. An ankle injury during the preseason limited his 2011-12 season to 25 games. He managed just one goal and three points and faced an uphill battle heading into the offseason.

Mursak caught fire playing in Austria during the lockout, scoring 19 goals and adding 29 assists for Ljubljana Olimpija HK in just 30 games. He made it just one game into the season before being sidelined by a collar bone injury suffered on a hit from the St. Louis Blues’ David Backes. Mursak returned to play in the Red Wings’ Thursday night loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, which very well may have been his final game with the team. His speed and scoring ability will be welcome in Grand Rapids, as many of the team’s top performers have been called up to Detroit.

Jonathan Katje is an NHL blogger for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @JKatje or add him to your network on Google.

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